MLADIN AND SPIES DOMINATE FONTANA
 Team
Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin and team mate Ben Spies dominated
the second leg of the AMA Superbike Championship double-header
at California Speedway in Fontana today, with Mladin taking
the victory by just 0.035 seconds.
The six-time AMA Champion reversed the places on his team
mate as the two GSX-R1000s finished 21 seconds ahead of third-placed
Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) in the 28 lapper.
Third Yoshimura rider Tommy Hayden finished in fourth place
after an equally-close and exciting battle with Honda's Jake
Zemke, who finished 0.0334 seconds behind.
"After yesterday, we were off from what we'd wanted
to do," said Mladin, who finished second to Spies in
Saturday's race. "Today, we got everything together.
Right from the start, I put my head down. This is a bit of
a hometown race for us so it means a lot to get a win here."
The previous day, Spies had picked up his third AMA Superbike
pole position of the season with a qualifying lap of 1:23.117.
Mladin was second with a best time of 1:23.711, while Hayden
rounded out the front row of the grid with a 1:24.475 lap
time.
At the start of the 28-lap race, Mladin took the lead almost
immediately. Spies slotted in behind and they battled together
for the entire race.
"I have no illusions that the season is going to be
anything but tough," maintained Mladin. "It's going
to be hard racing and I'm looking forward to it. I've won
several championships already and it's tough racing that motivates
me. Today, I was 100 per cent the whole way. There wasn't
anything left on the table."
Although Spies showed his team mate a wheel a few times,
in the end the defending AMA Superbike Champion brought home
a very close second place. Although Spies did not win the
race, he still maintains the lead in the overall championship
points standings.
"I would be happier if we could have gotten the win
today," said Spies. "But Mat set a blistering pace.
The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working great and I tried
to get it done today but we fell a little short. We just need
to see what we can do to come back strong for the race at
Infineon next month."
Going into Sunday's race, team mate Hayden was still recovering
from Saturday afternoon's crash in AMA Supersport qualifying.
Even so, the new Yoshimura Suzuki rider rode hard and finished
just shy of the podium.
"Today was pretty similar to yesterday," said Hayden,
who finished fourth in Saturday's race as well. "I got
a decent start on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and then
I fell back a couple of positions. But after four or five
laps - I don't know if it was me or the bike or both -I just
felt more comfortable and started going faster for the rest
of the race. So I guess I need to work on improving my starts.
But all things considered, I feel like two fourth-place finishes
is pretty solid."
All of Suzuki's road race teams will return for round four
of the AMA Superbike Series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
California the weekend of May 18 - 20th.
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1 Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2 Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3 Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)
4 Tommy Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki)
5 Jake Zemke (Honda)
6 Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
7 Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki)
8 Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)
9 Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki)
10 Jason Disalvo (Yamaha)
SPIES DOMINATES SUPERSTOCK:
It was a Suzuki sweep in the AMA Superstock race at California
Speedway in Fontana with Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies winning
the race and Jordan Suzuki's Jake Holden and Aaron Yates bringing
home second and third place, respectively.
With this second Superstock victory of the year, Spies took
over the overall championship points lead: "I just want
to thank my crew and Yoshimura Suzuki," said defending
AMA Superbike Champion Spies. "And congratulations to
Jake and Aaron, they rode a great race. Jake pushed me all
the way to the end. I just tried to keep my head down the
whole time. There for a few laps, though, I forgot how to
ride but then I was able to get in a groove."
After taking the AMA Superbike pole the previous day, Spies
went back out and nabbed the AMA Superstock pole after turning
a 1:24.804 lap time. Yates and Holden picked up the second
and third-place spots with 1:25.203 and 1:25.237 lap times.
"The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is working great,"
said Spies. "Everything is going exactly as planned.
Hopefully we can keep it up and get a win in the Superstock
race tomorrow."
In the 17-lap race, M4 EMGO Suzuki's Geoff May took the lead
immediately but was passed within a few laps by Spies. The
young Texan began gapping the field almost immediately and
brought home the win.
"It was a good race," said Spies. "The Yoshimura
Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working good, though I wish we had a
little more time to devote to testing the Superstock bike.
But we were able to get it done today and, hopefully, we'll
be able to do that for the rest of the season."
Like Spies, Holden got a good start on his Jordan Suzuki
GSX-R1000 and was in fourth position for the first few laps.
He methodically worked his way up into second position and
followed Spies home.
"It's nice to be up here," said Holden of his second
Superstock podium. "I've been waiting to get up here
for a long time. It's been a long journey but I'm glad to
be here with the Jordan Suzuki crew. I gave it all I had and
I'm looking forward to a good season. Hopefully, we'll be
up here a good bit."
Holden's Jordan Suzuki team mate Yates rounded out the podium
in third place. Early on in the race, Yates and Holden diced
for position before Yates settled into third.
"It was a good race," said Yates. "Jake came
by me and he was gone; he was on rails. Jake and Ben rode
an awesome race. I wanted to be up there battling with them
but I was struggling with grip a little bit and so I just
tried to bring it home for the Jordan Suzuki crew and get
as many points as possible."
Overall, Suzuki riders represented eight of the top-10 AMA
Superstock finishers at California Speedway and eight out
of the top-10 AMA Superstock championship points leaders.
All of Suzuki's road race teams will return for round four
of the AMA Superbike Series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
California on May 18 - 20th.
AMA Superstock Top 10 Finishers:
1 Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2 Jake Holden (Jordan Suzuki)
3 Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki)
4 Ben Bostrom (Yamaha)
5 Geoff May (M4 EMGO Suzuki)
6 Danny Eslick (MPT Suzuki)
7 Martin Cardenas (Kawasaki)
8 Scott Jensen (Suzuki)
9 Blake Young (MPT Suzuki)
10 Robertino Pietri (Suzuki)
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